


Degrees of Separation

by technicallywritingdreamer



Series: Degrees of Separation [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Hanzo is Genji's son, Incomplete, Jesse is Gabe's nephew, Mentions of past abuse, Mentions of past child abuse, Multi, Something kinda fluffy I wrote for a class, cathartic posting of old work to be done with it for a bit, heavy emphasis on AU, like almost nothing is the same, modern!AU, totally au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-23 03:42:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10711464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/technicallywritingdreamer/pseuds/technicallywritingdreamer
Summary: After his sister neglects her kid, Gabe takes custody and has to take on a teaching job to care for him.His new assistant is Genji, whose son Hanzo is starting school with Jesse.Sombra is a disgruntled barista who puts spices in people's drinks.I have no idea what's happening.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Things to keep in mind if you're brave enough to read this trainwreck:
> 
> -Genji is about mid-20s and Hanzo is about 5-6.  
> *Hanzo has Synesthesia and some traits of autism.  
> *The two have just come to America from Japan  
> due to family issus, Reinhardt took them in but  
> they have their own place now.  
> -Due to some traumas and Hanzo's condition,  
> the two are seeing Dr. Ziegler  
> -Gabe is mid-30s, Jesse is about 5.  
> *Lena is the Kindergarten teacher who is  
> somewhat involved with Amelie.  
> *Sombra is Gabe's unofficial family, coffee is  
> love.  
> \- I made up a name for her  
> -They whine about people together in Spanish across the guest area in the  
> cafe during her shift.

Gabriel Reyes:

It was never his dream to be a teacher. He had planned on turning down a local university’s offer of research material in exchange for getting saddled with a couple of seminars each semester. He hadn’t wanted to deal with the drama and whining of little brats, but it seemed he was destined to one way or another. He loved his little hermana, but she should not have gotten married, much less popped out a kid. The peleón she chose thought he was better than their family because his great-grand pappy had founded some podunk county out in the desert somewhere. No one he’d talked too had ever heard of McCree anyways. Still, he really shouldn’t have been surprised at the early morning wakeup call via social worker. Seems Ántonia had been ignoring the kid and the abuse her pendejó husband scarred into his soft flesh. He had needed a job on file to take custody.

“C’mon, Tío, Vamonos! We gotta gets to school!” Here he was, five years later getting up at the ass crack of dawn to take his kid to school before bracing himself to console the swarm of braguillas wanting to get an extension for their work. Amazing how his office hour attendance sky rockets around midterms. Hopefully the new research assistant was worth the paychecks the university was forcing him to sign.

“Tío!” A small body belly flopped onto his bed and he really had to remind himself it wasn’t appropriate to cuss out a child. “We’re gonna be laaaate! Miss Lena said we’re doing coloring today!” He loved Jesse, he really did, but most days he thanked God above that he was someone else’s problem for a good eight hours. 

“Did you grab your bag and coat already?” Gabe groaned, trying to buy some time to stay in his nice, warm bed. There was silence and then his favorite little dust storm was off and running. Ignoring the aching pops his joints released, Gabe started his own morning routine. A freezing shower did wonders for his alertness and years of practice let him duck and weave around the hellion tearing up his house. Jesse’s mop of auburn hair flounced past and he made a note to get it cut soon.

“M’stuff’s all here. Desayuno, por favor ?” His sister had always batted her big, brown eyes at him and got whatever she wanted. Seems she’d passed that trait down, since Jesse seemed to know how big a sucker his Tío was.

“I thought I just fed you yesterday?” Gabe pulled an elaborate thinking face and was rewarded with his nephew’s giggle and decree of “I haf’ta eat every day!” A nice plate of pancakes was set in front of the boy and he wasted no time digging in. It was rather comical to watch on a normal day, but downright hilarious since his Jessito had lost both front teeth and couldn’t quite wrangle the flat food. Gabe did his best to hide his chuckles in the coffee mug when the boy looked up at him accusingly. Before they got in the car Gabe went through a checklist of things the boy needed for Kindergarten and listened to Jesse’s grunts and “Yup”s fondly He didn’t want his little sobrino to ever change. 

As soon as the car stopped in front of the elementary school, Jesse was off like a shot. A faint “Bye, Tío, love you!” echoed after him as he made a beeline for Miss Lena and the sparse gathering of his classmates. Gabe gave the young woman a wave and got an enthusiastic, full body one in return. Now that Jesse was taken care of he needed his second caffeine dose to recover.

 

Valentina Rios (Sombra):

Picturesque flakes of dust caught the early morning sunlight through the large wall of windows, lighting up as if they were embers cast off a great bonfire. She never could quite understand why a café named La Sombra was so light and spacious, but a mere coffee grunt like her didn’t make those calls. The apron uniform was a garish shade of purple, the like of which could only be found when browsing store isles loaded with plastic monstrosities aimed towards little girls. When the sun tipped past the soaring silhouettes of the city and into the café, it seemed to crawl around, looking for any place to reflect off into her eyes. It must have been in conspiracy with the machines that blew heat at her face and made her feel like she was sunburnt. Just another joy of the opening shift. Between pingüinos in stiff suits yelling at her for making them late to work and dead-eyed students communicating in a language of grumbles and yawns, she really did not feel she was paid enough to not murder everyone. Then there were the long stretches of time when no one came in and the counter could only be wiped down so many times before she wanted to gouge her eyes out with the swizzle sticks. Spicing the drinks was her sole consolation. 

The pinched look when she sprinkles some chili powder in the cocoa, a squeeze of jalapeño in the non-fat venti caramel “Gluten-free because I’m Vegan” milk teas. The boss hadn’t gotten any official complaints and the tontos kept coming back with their ridiculously contradicting orders. Only one customer had caught her mess with his coffee and confronted her. Seeing as he smacked a twenty on the table and told her to add more next time, she wasn’t concerned with complaints popping up. Speak of the devil—the gold bell over the door jingled happily as her favorite regular slunk in.

Just over average height and thick as hell, most people probably would have started to slam on the panic button when the dark man appeared in his knit hat and suspiciously gleaming boots. The effect was ruined for her because she’d heard him grovel before his abuela over the phone too many times to be intimidated.

“Rios, mi amor, mi preciosa diosa del café! ” Gabriel crooned, falling to his knees before the counter, arm outstretched dramatically.

“I have your usual all ready for you, idiota .” She pulled the large cup out of its hiding place behind the counter and basked in the awe and gratitude that radiated out in waves. Reyes scrambled back to his feet and dug the exact change out of his pocket before attempting to drown himself in the cup. Seriously, this absolute dork just made her mornings.  
“You gonna come up for air anytime soon, Tío? You got places to be.” She casually grabbed the wipe rag and swished it around the counter they both knew was already spotless. A single finger served as his response and Valentia just cackled. Almost a full minute later Gabe pulled himself away with a pout at the cup’s sheer audacity to become empty. He had some foam sticking to his mustache like a child, not helping his image at all. 

“Mmmm, you’ve gotten better with hiding the pepper, querido . Is that cinnamon too?” 

“Yup,” She popped the “p” obnoxiously. “Ran out of cardamom so had to improvise.” The man snorted at her put upon tone. Glancing at his watch he let out a couple curses and the single mention of Jesse was enough for her to understand just how his morning had gone.

“Gotta get to class. Don’t get arrested for anything, I need my lunchtime gossip. How else will I know if Miss French finally realized that it’s rude to yell into her phone while ordering?” 

“Yeah, yeah. Piss off, Anciano . We’ll have our little girl talk later.” Reyes laughed, a rare sound that seemed to rattle the stacks of mugs and never failed to lift her spirits after a rough day. She watched the man toss his cup in the big trashcan on the sidewalk, staring too intently to pretend she wasn’t when he turned and they made eye contact. He blew her a sloppy kiss with a wink and it was her turn to give a one-finger salute. She could see him smiling and knew the heat on her face wasn’t from the machines.

 

Shimada Genji

Hanzo had been as prepared as always, bag ready and face washed before he sat down for breakfast at exactly half seven. It was Monday, so his son wanted omelet rice with ketchup and half a glass of 2% milk. He was still adjusting to their new house, so Genji wanted to keep to the boy’s old schedule as much as possible to help ease the transition. If only his childhood teachers could see him now: the great menace of their classroom kept in line by a six-year old’s soft “Please, Tou-san .” Then again, if soft-spoken Hanzo actually worked up enough courage to ask for something it must have been bothering him quite a bit. Genji still missed things and that disappointed him, but they were both learning how to get on.

“We have to go. It will take us fifteen minutes to walk to the Kindergarten and you still need to get to the bus stop.” Regardless of the boy’s perceived shortcomings, Genji couldn’t help but be proud of Hanzo’s vocabulary. The kid liked the focus reading brought him, and their therapist encouraged the two to read together so Genji could help explain some of the social cues of the characters to help Hanzo gain scripts for real life.

“Okay, and what do we say to Miss Lena when we see her?” 

“Hello, Miss Lena. I look forward to joining your class.” Hanzo recited, face scrunching adorably as he concentrated. Genji stifled the urge to coo and take pictures, but that would only confuse his little boy more. He slid on his shoes and let Hanzo lead the way.

“Very good! Why do you think we say that?” 

“Because we have to be polite to people whether or not we actually mean it.” The boy startled when his dad burst out laughing and Genji felt a flash of guilt at the sad look he got. Quickly he remembered Dr. Ziegler’s advice on how to smooth over situations like this.

“I’m not laughing at you because you are wrong, but because the blunt way you said that struck me as funny.” He held his breath as Hanzo frowned, heated eyes scanning over his facial expressions before the boy nodded solemnly.

“Saying things people don’t expect may make them laugh. Your voice is extra tickly today.” Hanzo observed. Another well of pride washed over Genji and he held his son’s hand a bit tighter, quizzing him over different situations so Hanzo could practice responses.

“You ready?” He asked when they reached the school’s fence. Hanzo seemed nervous, retreating into himself the closer they got.

“I don’t know.” Poor kid had a hunted look in his eye. Genji's mind raced for more advice but came up blank. He had to do this on his own and hope he doesn’t royally screw it. He slowly knelt to his son’s level and reached for Hanzo’s hands.

“You will be fine. People may not understand you at first, but they will learn, just like I’m learning, okay?” He was rewarded a small nod, but Hanzo didn’t look any more at ease. “Would it help if I find Miss Lena so you can meet her first?”

“You’ll be late. You only have twelve minutes to get to the stop. It’s your first day, you have to be on time!” Hanzo looked scandalized that his dad would abandon their perfectly timed schedule.

“Professor Reyes will understand. Did you know his nephew Jesse goes to this school? He’s in Miss Lena’s class as well. I’ve met him and he seemed nice, so I could grab him instead?” Genji tried not to let the silence worry him, but Hanzo wasn’t biting into his bottom lip so he wasn’t too overwhelmed.

“Please, Tou-san.” Just like that his heart melted. Making sure his son would stay by the gate and in sight, Genji went to find Lena and see if Jesse was in yet. Turns out he was saved the trouble because as soon as he stepped onto the playground a mess of dirt and grass barreled into his legs.

“Shimmidah!” The kid was eager to get his name right, but the missing teeth made it somewhat difficult and absolutely adorable. “wha’tcha doin’ here? You’re at the wrong school!”

“Hello, Jesse. Remember I said I had a son? Hanzo?” The little boy nodded so fast Genji had the insane fear his head would fly off.

“Yeah, he likes dragons and that he sometimes doesn’t get what people mean so be nice when I see him. Oh, hey! He’s suppose ‘ta be in this class! Is that him?” Jesse was already running off toward the fence and Hanzo looked like it was a rabid dog running up to him rather than a scrawny, younger child. By some force of divine intervention Jesse managed to stop before bulldozing over his target. Hanzo looked confused when Jesse began spewing words out at a fast pace and Genji hoped the boy hadn’t asked whether his son had ever wrestled a cactus. It was the first thing he had heard when Professor Reyes introduced his nephew and Genjistill had no idea what it meant. Maybe a crack about how his hair was dyed a bright green? But a cactus….

Jesse took Hanzo’s hand and began pointing around the playground, looking proud of himself. Slowly Hanzo began to relax and even smiled. That was just too cute and Genji snapped a quick photo and hoped it was enough to avoid his professor’s wrath for being late. The two began inching closer to the playground, but as soon as Hanzo’s foot touched the wood barrier he froze and darted back towards Genji. Tugging his dad’s shirt insistently, the boy waited until he was right near ear level to whisper.

“Jesse’s voice tickles too.” He was off in a shot and Genji tracked his progress until the boy latched onto his new friend once more. Another picture of the boys bowed together conspiratorially was sent to Hanzo’s proud grandfather before Genji caught the time on his phone and let out curses in his native Japanese, sprinting out of the schoolyard and hoping for once in his life that the buses were running late.

 

Gabriel Reyes:

Today was not going well. The school had messed up half his students’ schedules so they were sent to the wrong room and missed class. That meant his email was flooded with a bunch of panicked students and his assistant hadn’t shown up yet to head them off. Top it all with his lunch getting stolen from the faculty fridge and he was ready to murder someone. Preferably the someone who just smashed into his office’s door.

“S-sorry! Late, buses, Hanzo and Jesse, ran.” The young man huffed out. His hair was hanging in green spikes and was the only thing about him that didn’t seem disheveled beyond repair. It was messy no doubt, but seemed like it was to begin with. Still it wasn’t what caught Gabe’s attention.

“What was that about Jesse?” If something had happened the school would call. He knew that, but still…. Shimada held out his phone and Gabe saw it was a picture of Jesse with another little boy. It looked like his Jessito was showing Shimada’s son around the school and both kids were beaming. You could see Jesse’s missing teeth and little Hanzo looks like he had just finished crying, but together they were adorable. Shimada looked ready to pass out and if he really had run the fifteen miles from the kids’ school to Gabe’s office that would have been torture enough. Besides, he didn’t officially start work until tomorrow—this first day was just going to be a university-mandated tour, orientation crap.

“You send me this pic and I won’t fire you.” He tossed the phone back and the young man looked ready to cry in relief. “Get to work. You’re answering all these emails.” Leaving Shimada to cry for different reasons. Maybe he’d invite the kid to Sombra later if he survived the day.


	2. For  4Illuminati

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So the main comments from the workshop class I turned this in for was the ending wasn't quite right. My aim is/was to expand to a whole community (including Jack, the grumbly school janitor) so fingers crossed that may one day happen, but I was still writing up to, like, an hour before it was due and printing and stapling 20+ copies is a pain, so it cut off a tad abruptly. ANYWAYS after posting it here I wrote ~1.25 more sections to try and comply with some of the class comment suggestions. 
> 
> Because 4Illuminati is a sweetheart whose comment just made my night, I'll actually tack them on here.

Shimada Hanzo:

Normally people talked too much. There were grating voices, ones that felt like scales scratching along his legs, ones that felt like coarse wool dragged down his spine. However, there were nice voices too: Opa was soft wool hugging him just right and Tou-san’s voice felt like the tickly kisses he pressed onto Hanzo’s cheeks. Still, it was too much when too many voices were doing too many things. Hanzo liked order—every place a thing and every thing in its place. Schedules were good, schedules meant Hanzo wouldn’t be surprised by so much new.

Today had no schedule, but Tou-san had walked with him all last week so he could time out how long it took to get to school, how long it took from there to the bus stop. They tried leaving at different times to see when there were less people around and decided on the right schedule. Hanzo watched as his father carefully wrote out the times they had to leave, how long they had to eat and what to do when it rained. When the marker dried, Hanzo got two pieces of tape and hanged it up in his room by his other schedules—perfectly in line and spaced evenly.

School had its own schedule, but Dr. Ziegler had explained that they may not always be on time. He would have to schedule in delay times, but at least the same people would be there—something would be the same. Finding a friend was an unexpected boon. Jesse was loud and energetic, and all the things Hanzo wasn’t. He did not understand all the expressions the boy used, but he was friendly, always making sure Hanzo was close by and all right. He talked and talked and talked, and his voice moved depending on his mood. It felt like long grass and curling smoke, kitten fur wrapping around his ankles. Best of all, it was louder than everyone else’s, pushing unpleasant voices away. 

“So, I was thinkin’, your dad works with my uncle, so that muss mean we’ll visit Sombra together for dinner. Som’s nice, but she can be kind of sar….sarkassic. Don’t take what she says too hard, she prolly don’t mean it.” Jesse was talking through class, his one greatest flaw so far. As he began describing this café—or perhaps a person, Hanzo wasn’t so sure. “It’s about halfway from here to my house, so if you ever wanna come over sometime after dinner, I’m sure Tío will be fine with it.” Hanzo blinked, unsure of how to proceed. Jesse started looking a bit uncomfortable so he knew there was some social cue he wasn’t following. Let’s see, he was invited somewhere. Kinda. Perhaps Jesse needed to know if Hanzo was agreeing? 

“Hanzo!” His father’s relieved shout pulled his attention away. Tou-san was running towards him, falling to his knees with arms open for a hug. He looked tired, so Hanzo went without a fight, but he was early. That may not be good. 

“Jesse! You behave?” Professor Reyes was walking over, car keys in hand. He must have drove the two over.

“Did Professor Reyes ride you?” He asked and the two adults froze, spluttering. Had he done something wrong? First with Jesse and now with this-he felt tears prick his eyes.

“Ya almost got that one, Han, just left a word out. Shoulda asked if Tío gave your dad a ride.” Jesse piped up, grabbing Hanzo’s hand. “Oh, yeah, are we going to Som’s? I wanna show her to Hanzo!” Jesse’s eyes widened and his lower lip pushed out. Hanzo cocked his head, memorizing the look. Professor Reyes sighed and agreed, so it must be a way of asking for things?

“I’m not sure,” Tou-san hesitated, “we didn’t plan this out.” He had stood up and straightened his messenger bag. Well…Jesse had said it was close, and there was no work he needed done for class. He tugged at his dad’s shirt, copying Jesse’s look.

“Please, Tou-san?”

Valentina Rios:

The bell rang just as her shift was winding down and if she didn’t catch sight of Gabe’s beanie she’d be pissed. 

“Hey, Jesse!” She smiled as the scamp rushed forward and began scaling the bar stool. “Oh, hey, Prof.” He stuck his tongue out at her disappointed tone before motioning behind him.

“This is Shimada, my underling. He just survived an avalanche of whining and needs to recover. His son’s Hanzo-kun , the one Jesse’s dragging up next to him. Val looked over, and indeed there was the cutest little boy trying to scale the chair.

“Awww, hello there. Come to Aunty Val.” She cooed, making grabby hands. Hanzo looked surprised but then blushed, upping the cute factor by infinity. 

“Hello….Tiá Val?” He looked over to Jesse who was nodding proudly. A phone shutter went off like, eighty times and she quirked an eyebrow at the two doting men.  
“Settle in and give me your orders. I wanna hear all about your first days.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe if I can't get around to writing it I can skeleton out all the different headcanons going on for this universe.
> 
> Opa is German for Grandpa

**Author's Note:**

> Spanish: in order of appearance  
> Sister  
> Bully, thuggish, punk  
> Stupid, more insulting connotation against intelligence (dumbass, bastard, etc.)  
> Pun on Tío (Uncle) and the end of Sebastián  
> Let’s Go!  
> Brats  
> Breakfast please?  
> Term of endearment [derived from name + -ito (diminuitive)] given to children  
> Nephew  
> The Shadow  
> Penguins  
> Idiots, generic/not too insulting  
> Grandmother  
> My love, my precious goddess of coffee!  
> Idiot, here: affectionate than insulting  
> Love, dear, etc.  
> Old man
> 
> Japanese:  
> Dad, father


End file.
